TikTok Shop Mastery: 3 tips to advertise for business growth

TikTok Shop is a full-service (end-to-end) e-commerce solution that combines entertainment and shopping, allowing merchants to sell directly from their TikTok account. Through Seller Center, you can set up your TikTok Shop to organically showcase your brand and products on TikTok or through paid ads to reach new customers, increase sales, and grow your business.

Here are some of the benefits business owners like yourselves can have for their brands by having a TikTok Shop:

• A frictionless shopping experience that improves conversion rates by reducing barriers between discovery and purchase.

• Enhance discovery of your brand or product as it appears on the For You feed.

• Additional content created through affiliates who advocate for your brand.

• LIVE experiences that bring a personal touch and enjoyable real-time interaction into shopping.

• Shop Tab is an online marketplace within the TikTok app where shopping-inclined users can browse and purchase products.

For a more detailed guide on how to set up your TikTok Shop, you can refer to our TikTok Shop Sellers' playbook.

How to increase GMV to grow your TikTok Shop

Now that you understand the benefits and have created your TikTok Shop, it is time to make it successful. To measure the success of a TikTok Shop, we will always look at Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). Gross merchandise value (GMV) is the total value of products that are sold over a given period.

GMV = Shop Traffic x Conversion x Average Order Value (AOV)

GMV is primarily made up of 3 key levers. Shop Traffic, Conversion Rate, and Average Order Value (AOV). Increasing any (if not all) of these levers will increase GMV, ultimately contributing to your Shop's growth.Here are some of the organic and paid strategies to increase these levers.

3 Tips to drive GMV growth

In this guide, we will focus on the organic methods to establish a good Organic GMV baseline before starting Shop Ads. Here are the three tips you can implement in your Shop to start driving GMV growth.

Tip 1: Maximize product catalogue with good assortment

In order for sales to be made, you will need to ensure that you have a good assortment/range of products. The more limited it is, the smaller your potential customer base becomes. So do not filter products to put in your shop. The recommendation is for you to upload ALL of your available products.The next step is to optimize your product listing with a unique pricing strategy to avoid price comparisons. If the product is widely available on other eCommerce platforms and TikTok Shops, customers will naturally buy from the seller with the lowest price or the most positive reviews.Here are some best practices you can adopt to better optimize your product listing:

1. Product names that are easy to understand

2. Clear images with multiple angles

3. Videos that show the product in use; product demos

4. Clear descriptions, key selling points

5. Measurements and specifications (if applicable)

6. Including FAQs

7. Any other information to help the customer visualize the product so that they feel comfortable ordering something online without seeing/touching it in real life

Tip 2: Create content and drive engagement

Content is crucial for customers to know about your shop and products. By creating videos and running livestreams, you can drive GMV to your TikTok Shop. By creating and posting 4 to 30 shoppable videos and running livestreams 3-4 times a week, you will naturally drive awareness and sales, leading to better engagement with your community and grow your brand.

Here are some content best practices you can adopt when creating and running your next short video and livestream:

Short Video

1. Make sure your video have a good hook to engage your audience in the first 3-5 seconds

2. Consistently upload 3-5 short videos per day

3. Take advantage of current trends instead of creating your own

4. Produce more problem solving and informational videos

Livestream

1. Consistently do daily livestreaming for at least an hour

2. Find the best time to do your livestream where most of your audience can watch and engage

3. Join live streaming campaigns for additional support on visibility

4. Run special promos that happens only during the duration of your livestream

5. Identify and promote your best products during the livestream

Tip 3: Tap into content creators to improve your TikTok Shop creatives

As TikTok Shop is a creative-driven platform, you need to have new videos every week to constantly show up on your ForYou page. This is when the usage of affiliates kicks in. Tap onto the vast network of content creators to help you with video content or livestreams to drive brand awareness or even product sales while earning a sales commission for every product sold. Here are some of the benefits it brings to your business:

1. Get more in-feed visibility, traffic and followers

2. Unlock more content volume efficiently from affiliates

3. Full control over commission rates and affiliate videos to authorize and use to promote your product

Are you ready to advertise?

Once you have adopted all 3 tips above and established a healthy TikTok Shop, you are ready to enter the world of TikTok Shop Ads. Within Seller Center or TikTok Ads Manager, you will be able to set up Shopping Ads such as Live GMV Max, Product GMV Max, Product Shopping Ads (PSA), Video Shopping Ads (VSA) and Live Shopping Ads (LSA). These are paid marketing campaigns that you can use to promote your organic videos and livestreams to reach a wider audience and grow your business based on your specific goals, audience, and budget.

By adding Paid Ads to your Affiliate-only media mix, you will be able to reach a wider audience and drive GMV growth.

Greater precision: Higher predictability and reliability in terms of targeting Growth across the funnel: Drive loyalty, followers, visits to TikTok profile, and conversions, while Affiliates concentrate on conversions alone Expanded presence: Show up beyond Feed to high-intent shoppers on Shop Tab with Product Shopping Ads

Start your TikTok Shop Ads Journey Today

Sign up as a TikTok Shop seller now! Regardless of your follower count or experience in video creation, TikTok Shop provides you access to learning materials and support after you join to help you drive business goals.

Sources:

*TikTok Shop is only available in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam for the APAC region.

1. TikTok commissioned a study on consumer behavior during Mega Sales conducted by Toluna among n=4500 TikTok users and non-users in SEA, 2023. Internal TikTok Analysis, May-Jul, 2023, SEA: TikTok Shop Sellers who did not use TikTok Shop Ads versus TikTok Shop Sellers who used TikTok Shop Ads

2. Creators on TikTok Research by Kantar Consulting, 2022. Conducted in TH, ID, PH, VN, KR.

3. Internal TikTok Study, SEA, 2023